The Benefits of Co-Planning and Co-Teaching for Diverse and ELL Students

For the most part teachers and staff working in schools in the state of Washington agree that community and student demographics are changing. More diversity and languages, and higher numbers of free and reduced lunch recipients translates to more families in poverty or homelessness. In fact, the Washington State Board of Education recently released its 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. It is eye-opening and revealing, also included here for the nerd in us to geek out on: https://www.sbe.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/documents/StratPlan/SBE%20Draft%20Strategic%20Plan%20Draft%2010.9.18.pdf Front and center in their report are the following points.

• Over the past 10 years, we have seen a 57 percent increase in the number of English Learners enrolled in public K-12 schools.1

• We have also seen increased diversity with students of color now making up 46 percent of the student population compared to 34 percent a decade ago.2 However, the diversity of educators falls well short of the student percentage, as only 10% of teachers report a race other than “white.”

• The rate of low-income students, as measured by the percent of youth receiving free or reduced price lunch, has risen modestly over the past decade. However, we have seen a marked increase in the share of students experiencing housing insecurity as demonstrated by a 34 percent increase in just the last five years in the share of students who report they have experienced homelessness.3

How do these facts make you feel? Hopeful or hopeless? Panicky or prepared? The Washington State Board of Education includes in their report that “While the pace of these changes appears to be accelerating, our schools have struggled to keep pace and meet the needs of our students and their families, communities, and employers in this vibrant and growing economy.”

This is our current reality, so what can the collective ‘We’ in education do to support English Language Learners’ academic and linguistic development while also supporting teachers in the classroom whom serve these students daily? Many think that the answer is to pull students out of classrooms and teach them English first so that they can learn; however research shows that not only is this bad for students but the worst possible thing we can do to teach ELL students – besides not serve them at all. Below is a graph from researchers Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas whom have made it their life work to disaggregate data surrounding current practice and programs, and follow hundreds of thousands of students to get accurate information out to the public, education policy makers, school districts and teachers.

One solution is to get more teachers endorsed with an ELL certificate so their students will be better served, and more districts are already doing this. Another huge solution is co-teaching, where an ELL teacher, literacy or instructional coach pre-plans, co-plans and co-teaches with teachers K-12. The point of co-planning and co-teaching is to reach and maintain a higher level of rigor and keep our ELL and diverse students in mind and in the classroom as Common Core and Essential standards are targeted and taught. The co-planning can be done with grade level teams and/or individual teachers. Some things that to consider and intentionally plan for and teach are:

What background information or vocabulary do students need to acquire in order to understand and demonstrate the learning target?

Are there visuals – photos, drawings, videos, realia – that can help bridge what students know already to where they will be more successful?

What instructional strategies can we intentionally plan for: chants, movement, table talk in a small groups or turn and talk with a partner before writing?

Can graphic organizers, anchor charts, sentence frames or rubrics be used to record and cement student expectations and learning?

What are some Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) that will be given so that we gather data about how our students are acquiring learning? What are they, how often and when specifically?

There is so much more to intentionally think about and plan for – there are many books and courses out there to head us in the right direction. Most importantly, it is our children’s current and future lives on the line. What to do? What to do? We can continue to expand our own learning as educators to positively impact student outcome by collaborating, co-planning, co-teaching and assessing! Or, we can throw our hands up and be stuck with thoughts of distrust and lack of control in how different it is in schools today versus when we went to school. It is a conscious choice. What do you choose?

Advocate for Children, Equity, Race, Culure and Multilingualism. Life Coaching is another foundational layer. Dog and Nature lover. Music is Life and Art is Beauty. I wouldn't be alive today without a Tag Team of Angels, Earthbound & Ethereal.

The opinions expressed by the CORElaborate Bloggers, guest bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD), Ready Washington or any employee thereof. PSESD is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Washington State Teacher Leader or Guest Bloggers.

About Denise Renteria

Advocate for Children, Equity, Race, Culure and Multilingualism. Life Coaching is another foundational layer. Dog and Nature lover. Music is Life and Art is Beauty. I wouldn't be alive today without a Tag Team of Angels, Earthbound & Ethereal.

I hope part of the Washington State Board of Education’s strategic plan involves increased funding for co-teaching. My school drastically increased the amount of co-taught classes this year, and I definitely see the value you speak of here in action everyday. I like how you emphasize the need to use formative assessments with ELL students. One area the co-teachers in my department have focused on this year is leveraging their ability to gather and use formative assessments. They frequently use a model of co-teaching where one teacher roams the room while the other is leading an activity or lecture. The teacher roaming the room can check instantly how the students are doing and give immediate feedback to the other teacher. This enables them to revise instructional decisions in motion which is truly amazing to see in action! This definitely benefits their ELL students.

Thanks for raising these vital points. One thing I have noticed is educators actively resisting learning Spanish. I think that they are avoiding some responsibility here. There are ways to connect more deeply with our students. There are things we can do to enrich our own lives and enliven our practice. Learning a language is one of them. We don’t have to be perfect, but I think ELLs respect the effort. Our risking looking foolish invites them to take a risk too.

You make a valid point Al. A student whom speaks any other language besides English always feels surprised and delighted when we take an interest in their language, which is to say a huge part of their culture. And even if we are not doing this, we can allow our students to Table Talk / Turn and Talk with others in their first language to process what the teacher is asking of them. Then turn around and complete the task and turn it in, in English. And yet, even this small acknowledgement of students’ knowing through another language is looked down upon as a valid teaching and learning strategy. Outside the box thinking and doing is of utmost importance.

For many years I’ve thought school restructuring is long overdue. When my 35 year old daughter was a kindergarten student, I wished for a dual language program for her. I wanted her to learn Spanish while her peers were learning both English and Spanish. We live in Yakima, for crying out loud! We have such a great opportunity to create a better system that meets everyone’s needs. Recently our school had the opportunity to have a dual language program, but it wasn’t one designed to work with our community, it would have meant replacing the studentbody and staff. We still wish for productive change, but the one size fits all approach didn’t work for us. I know there has got to be support for change out there that works with systems and people rather than replacing them in their entirety. I want my ELL students to have the best education possible, but then I want that for every child in my school, particularly in regard to their diverse needs.

Irene,
You are spot on – every child deserves the best education possible, including our ELL / diverse populations. Forward thinking keeping our students first, front and center, is crucial. One path is through co-planning for visuals, intentional groupings, talk and work so everyone benefits from more comprehensible input. Dual language programs are also very beneficial. I work at a dual language English/Spanish elementary school. Our school is almost 50% Hispanic, so the strategic program pilot in 2013 has been a crucial part of our teaching, learning and doing. There are many factors to consider before and during the program, as you point out. If beginning a dual language program at your school meant replacing student body and staff, then it sounds like it wasn’t the best fit and would not have had the support it needs to sustain the program. Keep up the good work on behalf of our students!